Adam Prudhomme
Editor
When it comes to helping his student-athletes, NDSS’ School to Community teacher Michael Newstead is willing to give them the shirt off his back.
Or rather, quite literally the shoes off his feet.
That passion to go the extra mile was noticed by Special Olympics Ontario, who named Newstead the recipient of their 2024 Educator of the Year Award. The award is given to a Special Olympics educator who is dedicated to providing meaningful and ongoing sport opportunities for their students while actively supporting multiple sports.
“It was really neat to be at the awards ceremony held in Aurora, On. because I think by going to something like that you see what a lot of people are doing from people that are passionate about that particular field,” said Newstead. “I think sometimes you see things you are doing well, but even things that you can work towards. There’s things that I’m seeing that other people are doing that I would like to grow as a person and bring things to Napanee that we aren’t doing.”
Among the projects he’s helping to bring to Napanee is giving students in the Leadership class a chance to work with School to Community students, providing beneficial experiences for all students that can help them down the road.
Newstead first got involved with coaching in the Special Olympics back in 2005. Through his efforts, NDSS teams have excelled in a wide array of sports including soccer, basketball, bocce, floor hockey and track and field.
An example of his dedication came during last year’s provincial soccer tournament, when one student blew out his running shoes and would have been unable to keep playing. With no spare on hand, Newstead passed along his shoes to the student while he continued coaching from the sidelines in his socks.
“We’re just giving the opportunities to students who I think in the past haven’t had traditional success in sport,” said Newstead. “I think sport offers a lot of different things. I think Special Olympics offers those opportunities for socialization, physical experiences, I think there’s just a lot of positive opportunities that sport has to offer and that’s why we’ve been involved in a lot of Special Olympic stuff.”
Earlier this school year, the NDSS Special Olympics soccer team once again qualified for provincials, which will take place June 3-5 in Ottawa. Napanee Special Olympic athletes have a busy schedule between then with basketball, handball, bocce and floor hockey qualifiers, among others.
“When you get there, if you win, it’s a bonus,” Newstead said of reaching provincial tournaments. “I think some coaches lose the vision that winning is everything. For us, what we try to tell (the athletes) is do your best, work with each other, promote cooperation and teamwork and if it doesn’t happen, it will not define you if you win or lose. Just the fact that you go there, and sometimes you have to go through adversity and you make the most of those situations.”